Book Blitz: Strategies for Independent Bookstores

Book Blitz

Strategies for Independent Bookstores

Strike fast and sudden, before the competition is prepared

Part 16 of the 36-part “Book Wars” series of articles

by David A. Rozansky, Publisher, Flying Pen Press

Readers, Writers & Royalties columnist

October 22, 2009

Copyright 2009 David A. Rozansky

(Note: This is the 16th article in the “Book Wars” series of articles, wherein the author interprets the strategies taught in The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene, and applies them to the business of the independent bookseller, in the arena of the difficult book trade. The first article in this series can be read at http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977657920)

One of the most compelling strategies in war or in business is the Blitzkrieg, a sudden and rapid assault designed to overwhelm all possible resistance. Besides holding the advantages of surprise and momentum, it often pits the enemy against his own emotions, driving panic and haste deep into his own psyche.

However, it is not as simple as all of that. To strike quickly, one must start slowly. Robert Greene discusses this at length in his strategy book, The 33 Strategies of War. He points out that for a Blitzkrieg to work, it must be preceded by a quiet lull, meant to draw the enemy into a state of complacency.

In the Book Wars between independent stores, large competitors and online leviathans, the advantage of speed and mobility lies with the independent store. Smaller organizations with centralized leadership are easier to maneuver and need no ramping up speed. When it is time to change directions in an assault, the smaller store will have less time bringing its staff about on point. In fact, the smaller store will find it natural to dance quickly around the chainstore’s lethargic cycle of memos and training program updates.

It is for this reason that the Blitzkrieg strategy is perfect for independent bookstores, and why so many have found success with it time and time again.

Greene gives his readers a simple recipe for the Blitzkrieg, first formulated by Chinese warlords centuries ago. Translated, this recipe is “Slow, Slow, Quick, Quick.”

Step 1: Slow

The first ingredient of the Blitzkrieg is the “First Slow.” First Slow is the meticulous planning one needs to pull off a successful Blitzkrieg. It is important to know how the enemy will react to a fast, overwhelming frontal attack. What resources will he bring to bear? How ready are his troops to resist an assault? How much pressure will it take to get a rise out of him?

In retailer terms, it is easy enough to translate this advice into terms of how will the competition react to a competitive threat? How long does it take the competition to change its pricing, to retrain its floor salespeople, to install new inventory software? When does the competition take notice of a competitive threat? Is it as soon as you post a new price in the window, or only when it sees a drop in the three-month trending of customer purchases? And what does the competition see as a threat? Barnes & Noble is not about to react to a simple price war over local guide books, but will take notice of internet incursion on its “Membership” program. Amazon flees in terror whenever the words “Sales Tax” are uttered, but has no qualms with any author signings hosted by Mary’s Main Street Books. Walmart is completely blind to any assault of customer service an indy might use against it, but comes to life as soon as prices are undercut by local upstarts or Amazon. And so it goes.

Much of the planning is dependent on Intelligence gathering, which I discussed in the last article in this series, “Know Thy Enemy.” Keep in mind that when it comes to dealing with large organizations, it is good to understand not only how the organization reacts as a whole, but also the reactions of the regional managers and store managers.

Then, as in chess, it is best to think out the Blitzkrieg assault as many moves in advance as possible. There is no sense committing to an all out charge if it only leaves you vulnerable to encirclement by the enemy. What is your sudden and overwhelming first move? How will the competition react? How will you be ready to trap the competition when it reacts? How will the enemy respond once pulled into your trap? How will you defend against a panicked competitor that is desperate to get out of your trap? And then what? And after that…?

Step 2: Slow

Once the painstaking, far-reaching plans coagulate, it is time to put the enemy at ease. Complacency is the name of the game. If an army, no matter how fast or how maneuverable, attacks an enemy prepared to meet it, it will be resisted, perhaps slaughtered. There is no way to succeed against a force that entrenches itself against an expected assault except with considerable bloodshed.

But if the enemy comes to believe that no attack is forthcoming, then it will not entrench itself, nor even carry arms. And the Blitzkrieg makes the enemy think that nothing is coming, out of complacency. The human mind has difficulty grasping the concept of change, especially in circumstances that have not changed in some time. Thus, the enemy can be lulled into thinking that there will be no assault, no attack at all from the enemy, simply by its extended absence.

This is even more effective in business than it is with standing armies. Unlike a standing army which has been organized with “constant readiness” as its credo, a business seeks trends and works on the principle that markets rarely change, at least not by much. They look at data over long periods of time, rather than planning for a surprise marketing blitz that may or may not come.

It can have an even more debilitating effect in the realm of large corporations. Such organizations suffer from not-invented-here-osis and not-my-department-itis. If a store’s staff is doing something for a while that seems to be successful, they are apt to keep doing that thing, even in the face of severe changes in marketing conditions. The small business owner, however, is more likely to adapt instantly, as each day in an independent bookstore is a new day, a new page in the playbook.

Then, when they least expect it, hit ’em hard!

Step 3: Fast

The enemy has been lulled into a peaceful slumber, a state of well-being. With its guard down, its reserves unarmed, its generals playing golf, the enemy cannot stand against a strong, swift attack.

It is important that this sudden attack be a frontal attack. While it is a surprise, it is important that the enemy sees this charge as an attack that it clearly understands how to fight.

It is also important that this charge be overwhelming and lightning fast. There should be no time for the enemy to think, only to react. The charge should be so overwhelming that the enemy calls every man and gun to its defense.

The point is to direct their complete and undivided attention upon this attack, and to do so in a state of panic and a complete overcommitment of resources.

Let me take to the three example scenarios I’ve already started:

· Mary’s Main Street Books has left the local Barnes & Noble alone. The chain store has been signing up customers to its membership program for a long time, unimpeded. Mary long ago learned that the store manager’s performance depends in large part on how many memberships his store sells. So, on a rather innocuous day, Mary launches an advertising campaign to promote her store’s new membership program that exceeds Barnes and Noble’s program in benefits and costs only a third as much. The Barnes & Noble manager will throw a fit and the haggling for customers will begin in earnest.

· A real-life assault against Amazon is going on as I write this. Five different states, at the behest of independent bookseller, are taking Amazon to court or to the legislative floor, where the battle for sales tax is being fought loudly. This has Amazon’s attention, and it is fighting back with expensive lawyers, while the indies all sit back comfortably and let their state attorneys force the issue into the U.S. Supreme Court for the inevitable ruling that “states can collect sales tax when there are nodes of business in that state.”

· To take on Walmart, it should seem the frontal attack would be a simple price war. But here is a position where Walmart always expects an attack, and where it is highly entrenched. Instead, a better attack is to bring local attention on its “unfair labor practices,” and lobby local lawmakers create a local minimum wage or other increased labor costs that Walmart will have to address.

A sudden and overwhelming attack is going to be a bloody one. It may be enough in most battles to overcome the enemy, but in the David and Gooliath fight between indies and corporations, it is not likely, and that is why the ancient Chinese warlords were smart enough to understand that even with a swift and massive attack, the Blitzkrieg is not yet complete.

Step 4: Fast

At this point in the battle, the enemy is in a panic, and all eyes are on the frontal assault, the charge that poured carnage into their midst and caught them unawares. This is the time for the true surprise, the Blitz!

The Blitz is a blindsiding attack, even more swift, maneuverable and overwhelming than the initial charge. Once the enemy has engaged all his resources to fighting the initial charge, there is precious little that he can turn to the new attack.

Unlike the initial charge—which is a frontal, highly visible attack—the Blitz comes from an unexpected, unseen direction. Having no way to defend against the Blitz, most armies will capitulate or even rout. Panic will grip the enemy, and troops will become completely demoralized.

Let’s get back to the three scenarios:

· With the local manager at Barnes & Noble crawling over his subordinate’s backs to sell more memberships, Mary’s Main Street Books sweetly steals those subordinates for management positions at her newly announced second location in town. This leaves the mighty chain store with inexperienced staff at a time when the manager is being rather pushy and customers being drawn away.

· I cannot guess what the Blitz will be against Amazon while it is engaged in its sales-tax fight, but I am getting the feeling that indies stores are drifting towards giving customers everything that Amazon does: reader reviews, versatile ebook readers, onsite access to a large selection through the Espresso Book Machine, computerized book recommendations, and author blog feeds.

· With the town’s Walmart embroiled in local labor issues, a simple Buy Local campaign that vilifies the large chain stores and launches a town-wide boycott can be enough to recover the market not only for the indie bookstore, but for indie retailers all over town. Between the labor issue and the local-economy issue, Walmart’s advantage in price warring is effectively neutralized.

As long as the enemy is complacent, the Blitzkrieg is an easy victory. But once the enemy catches on and prepares, it is a worthless strategy. Like Napolean at Waterloo, like Hitler at Stalingrad, there is no way a general can surprise a wary and determined enemy, and a Blitzkrieg then becomes only a bloody epitaph. This is generally not a strategy you can play more than once, and certainly not more than once against the same competitor.

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This is just one article in David A. Rozansky’s column, Readers, Writers & Royalties, a blog column about the book trade, from writing and publishing, to selling and reading. This series of articles—“Book Wars”—is an interpretation of the strategies listed in Robert Greene’s The 33 Strategies of War, as they apply to the independent bookseller. The subtle strategy of Manipulation is the next topic covered in this series of articles.

Readers may find archived articles or subscribe to Readers, Writers & Royalties at www.ReadWriteRoyalty.Gather.com. Subscribe to all of Mr. Rozansky’s articles at www.FlyingPenPress.Gather.com.

David A. Rozansky is the publisher of Flying Pen Press. He has been in publishing since 1987, and has more than one million published words under his byline. Flying Pen Press is at http://www.FlyingPenPress.com. He is available for speaking on the subject of writing magazine articles, public relations, marketing and book-length material.

Bibliographic information for books mentioned in this article:

The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene
(Penguin Books, 2007, ISBN 9780143112785, trade ppb, $18.00).